Presents express sympathy or appreciation since ancient times. Today birthdays, weddings, holidays and Christmas are the most common occasions for making gifts. The majority of the population buy their gifts in department stores like Kaufhof and Karstadt. But at least each third buys in specialized gift shops or in Tchibo branches. You will find more information about making gifts and buying presents in the new edition of the trendmonitor TIMESENSOR. Please contact info@gp-f.com or phone +49-89-54344960.

November 2008 - Timesensor No. 10 Underwear & Dessous now available

The Timesensor presents in its tenth edition new insights about the use, the needs and the preferences of underwear & dessous in Germany. There exist significant differences between men and women, single and married people, younger and older consumers. The different brands, e.g. Boss, Calvin Klein, Schiesser, La Perla, Dolce&Gabbiani, Triumph etc. have a clearly distinguished brand position.

November 2008 - Prevention of over-indebtedness starts already in the kindergarden

By invitation of the Ministry for Social Affairs, Family and Health of the State Thuringia, Dieter Korczak has given a presentation about financial education and debt prevention for youngsters. The conference took place in the conference rooms of the Parliament of Thuringia at November 28.

November 2008 - The social dimension of environment and health

At a conference of the German Federal Ministry for Environment and the Confederation of German Trade Unions, Dieter Korczak was the moderator of a workshop dealing with “Environmental effects on working conditions”. The conference took place in Berlin at November 11.

October 2008 - New Book: The power of dreams

Dieter Korczak has edited a new book which deals with individual and societal dreams. In the book the biological and psychoanalytical meaning of dreams as well as the dreams of pregnant women, children and aged people are analyzed. Moreover, architectural dreams, dreams in poetry and art and different kinds of utopian societal dreams are described. The book is in German and can be ordered by www.asanger.de (ISBN 978-3-89334-494-9).

September 2008 - Dieter Korczak re-elected as Esomar Council Member

Due to the statutes of Esomar, the world largest association of market and social researchers, Dieter Korczak was re-elected for the Council period from January 2009 – December 2010.

September 2008 - Timesensor No. 9 "Happiness" now available

The new edition of the TIMESENSOR deals with happiness. Most people in Germany are happy when they feel beloved and do not have money troubles. 49% of the population are satisfied with their life. The most frequent sources of satisfaction are the own family and friends. The research is part of the international happiness research of the GP Forschungsgruppe.

September 2008 - Announcement of the expert conference "Environment and Justice"

On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Environment and the Federal Environment Agency, GP Forschungsgruppe organizes an expert conference on environmental justice. The conference will take place from 13th to 14th October in Berlin.

September 2008 - Announcement of the symposium "Tolerance"

The Society for Interdisciplinary Studies will meet form 3rd to 5th October in Bonn. Tolerance will be the main subject of the annual symposium. Presentation will be e.g. on 'The myth of the global village', 'Islam and European culture', 'Medical treatment of Turkish female patients', 'Education for street kids in Columbia'. The conference will be opened by Dieter Korczak.

August 2008 - Timesensor No.8 "Youth" available

A new edition of the monitoring program TIMESENSOR covers many questions which arise around the topic "Youth". For Germans, to be young means to be around 32 years old. A lot of other questions are answered by the survey like smoking and drinking habits, TV and cinema use as well as attitudes concerning life style and personal development. The study can be ordered now.

August 2008 - Working Group "Standard Budgets" founded

A working group "Standard Budgets" was founded within the German Society for Household Economics. The working groups intends to further develop the instrument of Standard Budgets. This activity is in line with a transnational project which has been started in 2008 by several members of the European Consumer Debt Network (www.ecdn.eu).

July 2008 - Dieter Korczak receives invitation of the AMSRS

Dieter Korczak received an invitation to give a workshop and a keynote speech at the annual conference of the Australian Market and Social Research Society in Melbourne. The workshop will cover "Specific techniques and methods in undertaking government and social research". It will take place on September 12. On September 13, the keynote speech will deal with the following subject: "Beyond GDP: Is there environmental justice for all in new societies?". For further information see www.amsrs.com.au. As elected Council Member he will participate at the Esomar Congress "Frontiers" in Montreal from September 21 to 25 (www.esomar.org).

June 2008 - Dieter Korczak new member of FIN-USE

The European Commission, DG Internal Market, has put Dieter Korczak on the list of experts in the area of financial services from a user perspective. He is now member of the Forum of Users of Financial Services (FIN-USE). The objective of FIN-USE is to support the European Commission in the preparation of legislative initiatives and in the evaluation of developments in the banking and credit sector.

May 2008 - Timesensor No.7 now available

Fairness, environmental justice, equal rights, corporate social responsibility are subject of the seventh edition of the Timesensor. Some scandals have triggered the public awareness and made it again sensible for justice. Order conditions under info@gp-f.com or +49-89-54344960.

April 2008 - Thought Leader Survey 'Health'

In autumn 2007 we conducted the first wave of our thought leader survey 'Health'. Key results showed a negative response of the German thought leaders concerning German Healthcare politics. Especially critical were the uncertainty of planning due to permanent legislative changes, the increase of bureaucracy, the limitation by budgeting and time-taking discussions with patients and insurances. The second wave of the survey just started in April.

April 2008 - Risks, obstacles and success of beauty research

Dieter Korczak reported about facts and illusions in the beauty market at the conference 'pharma research' of the BVM (German Association of Market- and Social Researcher). The conference took place at April 29, in Frankfurt/Main.

April 2008 - Debt advice belongs to the fight against poverty

Dieter Korczak gave a lecture on debt prevention by financial education at the annual conference of the German Association of Debt Advisors (BAG-SB). The lecture was given at April 23, in Munich.

April 2008 - SPIEGEL Magazine sets focus on Scoring Report

The actual edition No.17 of the well-known German political magazine The SPIEGEL deals with the report on scoring by Dieter Korczak & Michael Wilken. The report was published in January 2008 and can be downloaded.

Funded by the European Commission under the Community Action Programme to Combat Social Exclusion 2002-2006, Dieter Korczak has evaluated the process how a group of eight institutions initiated an European Consumer Debt Network (ECDN) to fight and prevent over-indebtedness and to promote financial inclusion. In 2007, already thirty-three institutions (including three individual members) from eighteen European states joined ECDN. The network edits a newsletter, has conducted five international seminars on topics like financial education, access to financial services, debt regulation and provides a website (www.ecdn.eu). The evaluation report describing the development and the relevance of the network can be downloaded.

March 2008 - TIMESENSOR No. 6 "Mobility" can be ordered now

The new edition of the trend monitoring instrument TIMESENSOR presents information on the mobility behavior and attitudes of the German Population. The data and the analysis include e.g. individual cost-benefit-decisions regarding the use of car, train or airplane, the ways how cars are financed, environmental aspects of cars and a wish-list for car producers and airlines. Call Dieter Korczak to get more information about the mobility of the German population 0049-89-54344960.

February 2008 - Do I want to be beautiful? - Esomar Healthcare Conference, February, 4-6, Rome

Beauty has been of major concern to people since ancient times. But in the 21st century beauty seems to have become a hype. Perfectly styled female and male bodies and faces flood not only Playboy magazines and Pirelli calendars but the whole range from yellow press to soap operas. And it is nearly never natural beauty. It is hard to fine a celebrity which has not supported his/her image by the help of cosmetic surgery. Cosmetic surgery has become big business. For Germany, the sales can be estimated around 700 millions Euro in 2006. There are 2000 physicians which offer cosmetic surgery in Germany. Does this supply meets the needs and demand? A survey with 620 patients and 150 cosmetic surgeons gives answers. On the conference Dieter Korczak will present how patients search for the 'right' doctor, how they make their decision and how happy they are with the result. www.Esomar.org.

On invitation by Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Dieter Korczak will join the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT). A major step in this process will be the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking, to be held on 13-15 February 2008. The Forum is a call to action, a chance to get down to business and to trigger the emotional and operational response needed to fight a crime that shames us all. www.ungift.org.

February 2008 - Future perspectives - Timesensor No.5 now available

The January edition of the TIMESENSOR covers future perspectives and desires of the German population. Data are delivered concerning attitudes of world politics (e.g. US, Iraque, Afghanistan), national elections in Germany, personal perspectives of the respondents, concerns about violence among teens, shortage of skilled labor or distributive justice. More information by www.zeitsensor.de or Dieter Korczak (+49-89-54344960).

January 2008 - Money and lending - Edition of TIMESENSOR No. 4 now available

The edition No.4 of the TIMESENSOR presents data on the market shares of German banks, the use of credit and online-banking, attitudes of the population regarding money, expenditures and the corporate social responsibility of banks. The study can be ordered by the GP Forschungsgruppe. Costs are 4.000 Euro (English version).

January 2008 - Dieter Korczak was elected in the management board of ECDN

At the first General Assembly of the European Consumer Debt Network (ECDN), Dieter Korczak was elected for a four year period. In the management board. He is coordinating the science and research group within ECDN. More information on ecdn are available by www.ecdn.eu.

January 2008 - Scoring in practise

On January 23rd, 2008 the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) will present the new report on scoring and data protection of the GP Forschungsgruppe. The press release takes place in the Federal Press Office. The chair of the vzbv Gerd Billen, the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Peter Schaar and the two authors Dieter Korczak and Michael Wilken will be present for discussion. Invitations by www.vzbv.de. The study is written in German including an english summary and can be downloaded.